1836 Imperial ukaz regarding Alaskan education issued from Czar Nicholas I that students were to become faithful members of the Orthodox Church, loyal subjects of the Czar, and loyal citizens; Fr. John Veniaminov returns to Russia.

1891 Fr. Alexis Toth, a Uniate priest, petitions to be received along with his parish in Minneapolis into the Russian Church; Bp. Nicholas (Adoratsky) assigned as Bishop of Alaska but is transferred before taking up his post; Nicholas (Ziorov) becomes ruling bishop of the Alaskan diocese.

1892 Fr. Alexis Toth and his parish in Minneapolis received into the Russian Church; Carpatho-Russian Uniate parishes in Illinois, Connecticut, and several Pennsylvania soon follow suit; first Serbian parish established in Jackson, California; Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox parish founded in New York; first American-born person ordained, Fr. Sebastian Dabovich; Archim. Raphael (Hawaweeny) arrives in America.

1895 First Syrian parish in Brooklyn, New York, founded by St. Raphael of Brooklyn; first clergy conference, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Beyond Alaska (1900-1918)

1900 Name of Russian mission diocese changed from the Aleutian Islands and Alaska to the Aleutian Islands and North America, thus expanding its territorial boundaries.

1901 First Orthodox church in Canada, in Vostok, Alberta.

1902 Building of St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York.

1904 Raphael (Hawaweeny) consecrated as Bishop of Brooklyn, becoming the first Orthodox bishop to be consecrated in America; Innocent (Pustinsky) consecrated as Bishop of Alaska; first Romanian parish founded in Cleveland, Ohio.

1906 In an ukaze dated January 27, addressed to Archbishop Tikhon, the Holy Synod of Russia confirmed the practice of commemorating the American president by name, and not the Russan Tsar, during divine services; blessing of St. Tikhon's Orthodox Monastery by hierarchs Tikhon, Raphael and Innocent; 1st All-American Sobor held in Mayfield, PA, at which the name of the Russian mission was declared to be The Russian Orthodox Greek-Catholic Church in North America under the Hierarchy of the Russian Church; translation of Service Book by Isabel Hapgood.

1907 Abp. Tikhon (Belavin) returns to Russia and is succeeded in his see by Platon (Rozhdestvensky) as Archbishop of the Aleutians and North America; Uniate Bp. Stephen Ortinsky sent to the US by Rome to stem the tide of Uniate returns to Orthodoxy; Papal decree Ea Semper issued, mandating all Uniate priests in American be celibate; first Sunday of Orthodoxy service in New York; first Bulgarian parish in Madison, Illinois.

1914 Abp. Platon (Rozhdestvensky) recalled to Russia and made bishop of Kishinev, after having received 72 communities (mainly ex-Uniate Carpatho-Russians) into Orthodoxy during his rule; Antiochian Metr. Germanos (Shehadi) of Zahle comes to US to organize parishes without the approval of his synod.

Revolution and Rivalry (1918-1943)

1918 The Bolshevik Revolution throws the Church of Russia into chaos, effectively stranding the fledgling Russian mission in America.

1919 Southern Church Council meets in Stavropol at which Higher Church Administration was formed in Southern Russia; Second All-American Sobor meets in Cleveland, electing bishops for the Romanians and Albanians, pending approval from Moscow (which never comes); Germanos (Shehadi) receives Ukrainians in Canada.

1935 "Temporary Regulations of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad" signed by ROCOR synod in Karlovtsy, Serbia, including Theophilus (Pashkovsky) of the Metropolia, thus renewing relations; ROCOR is divided into four regions, including North America with Theophilus as the regional primate.

1962 Antiochian Toledo archdiocese recognized by the Church of Antioch as equal to the New York archdiocese.

1963 Autonomous Serbian diocese created; beginning of rapprochement between Metropolia and Moscow Patiarchate; arguing that the Metropolia's 1924 declaration of "temporary self-government" amounted to a canonical declaration of autocephaly, Toward an American Orthodox Church is published by St. Vladimir's professor Alexander Bogolepov, galvanizing the Metropolia to seek autocephaly.

1968 Meeting between Metropolia representatives and Moscow Patriarchate in Upsala, Sweden, discussing autocephaly for the Metropolia; Synod of Bishops of the Metropolia decides to start official exploratory negotiations with MP.

1969 Consecration of Dmitri (Royster) (seen by many to be first convert bishop); official autocephaly meetings of Metropolia with Moscow Patriarchate take place on New York City, Tokyo and Geneva.